Man Hunt for the Reach'
"We, uh…" I stuttered, my back hitting the cold brick wall of the alleyway. I was out of breath, out of mana, and completely out of options. The injured woman was hidden behind a rusted dumpster a few yards away, and Althea was still trying to untangle herself from the discarded pallets I'd thrown her into to keep her from getting chopped in half. "We can talk about this, right? Guys? Arbitration? A sternly worded email?"
Lu didn't pause. He didn't even blink. He just kept walking toward me, a slow, methodical march of impending doom. His halberd dragged behind him, carving a deep, smoking trench into the concrete. The purple aura around him was suffocating, making the air taste like ozone and copper.
"You speak of negotiations while the scent of the Void clings to you like a shroud," Lu rumbled, his golden eyes narrowed into slits of absolute disdain. "The Obsidian Hands thrive on deception. I will not be swayed by the cowardice of a pawn."
"I am not a pawn! I don't even play chess!" I shouted, holding my hands up defensively. "Listen to me! I got this mark by accident! It's an RNG nightmare! I didn't summon those dogs!"
From the entrance of the alley, the intern, finally catching his breath, pushed his cracked glasses up his nose. "Lu, Section 4 protocols require us to detain suspected cultists for interrogation. We can't just execute him in the street."
"The Void does not wait for bureaucracy, Contractor," Lu replied coldly, not taking his eyes off me. "His existence is a breach. I am closing it."
He didn't wait for another word from the intern. With a sudden, explosive burst of speed that defied his massive bulk, Lu cleared the distance between us. The halberd swept upward in a terrifying diagonal slash aimed right at my chest.
Time seemed to slow down. The humming blade of the polearm looked like a blurry smear of purple light. My new stats kicked in, my body acting entirely on its own instinctual terror.
I dropped to the ground, my knees scraping against the rough concrete. The blade of the halberd sailed mere inches over my head, the sheer wind pressure tearing the hood right off my sweatshirt.
I didn't stay down. I couldn't. I planted my hands on the ground and pushed off, throwing my entire body upward in a desperate, frantic flip. As I crested the arc of my panicked jump, my right leg snapped out.
My sneaker connected squarely with the side of Lu's massive, armored jaw.
CRACK.
The sound echoed through the alley like a gunshot. The impact sent a painful, jarring shockwave all the way up my leg and straight into my hip.
To my absolute, mind-bending shock, the giant stumbled.
Lu's head snapped back from the force of the kick, his massive frame teetering precariously backward. For a split second, he looked genuinely disoriented, his boot slipping on a patch of wet garbage as he struggled to maintain his balance.
The alley plunged into stunned, absolute silence.
I landed awkwardly on my feet, staring at my leg as if it had suddenly sprouted a second head. Did I just roundhouse kick a seven-foot-tall mythical warrior in the face?
The intern's mouth was hanging open, his glasses completely forgotten as they slid off his nose and clattered to the ground. "Did… did that kid just kick you?" he whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of awe and absolute terror.
Even Althea, who had finally extracted herself from the pallets, froze mid-stride, staring at me with a look that bordered on profound respect.
The silence was shattered by a low, terrifying growl.
Lu slowly turned his head back toward me. There was a faint, purple bruise forming on the side of his jaw, perfectly matching the tread of my sneaker. His golden eyes were no longer just focused; they were burning with a homicidal rage that made the air temperature drop by ten degrees.
"Okay," I squeaked, my brief moment of glory evaporating instantly. "That was definitely a mistake."
"You… miserable… insect," Lu hissed, every word vibrating with lethal intent.
He didn't swing the halberd this time. He just dropped it, the massive weapon hitting the ground with a thunderous crash. He lunged at me with his bare hands, his massive fingers reaching out to crush my skull like a rotten grape.
I didn't try to kick him again. I dove to the left, scrambling over a pile of trash bags as his massive fist punched straight through the solid brick wall where my head had been a fraction of a second before. Bricks rained down on me, the dust choking my lungs as I frantically crab-walked backward.
"Althea! A little help here!" I screamed, dodging another wild, earth-shattering punch that cratered the asphalt.
"I am engaging!" Althea yelled, darting forward. Her blade flashed, aiming for the back of Lu's knee, trying to cripple his mobility.
But Lu was done playing. He backhanded the air without even looking at her. The kinetic force alone sent Althea flying backward, crashing through a stack of empty crates.
He turned back to me, his chest heaving, his eyes locked onto the glowing crest on my hand. He wasn't just trying to kill me anymore. He was trying to erase me. The hunt was on, and I was fresh out of stamina.
Lu raised his massive fist, the purple aura pooling around his knuckles like a localized black hole. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the absolute game over.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The voice didn't just echo; it cracked through the alleyway like a physical whip.
Lu's fist froze a mere inch from my nose. The sheer kinetic pressure of his halted punch blew my hair back and rattled my teeth.
Footsteps clicked sharply against the pavement. I cracked one eye open. Striding past the ruined dumpsters and the terrified intern was none other than Captain Heather, her DHA uniform crisp and her expression radiating absolute, uncompromising authority.
"Jace, you need to get control over your Angel," Heather barked, glaring at the intern before shifting her sharp gaze to the giant, then down to me. "He's a student of Astral Academy. Though, I didn't expect that school to already have a Contractor."
My heart stopped. Astral Academy. She recognized the uniform. Or at least, what was left of it after surviving a Void Demon and a purple-haired blender.
I immediately slapped both hands over my face, trying to shrink into the brick dust.
"Contractor?! Who, me? Nah, you've got the wrong guy," I pitched my voice down, desperately trying to sound like a grizzled street tough instead of a terrified teenager. "Yup—you're imagining it. Matter fact, you're delusional."
"I literally gave a presentation at your assembly three hours ago," Heather said flatly, crossing her arms.
"Must be a doppelgänger. Glitch in the matrix. I'm just a normal, unremarkable civilian who frequently enjoys… alleyway inspections," I mumbled from behind my fingers, pressing my back harder against the wall.
Lu let out a low, vibrating growl, his eyes still locked onto my glowing hand. "Captain. He bears the mark. He is an agent of the Obsidian Hands."
"Stand down, Lu," Heather commanded, her voice leaving no room for argument. "He isn't one of the Hands. The Obsidian Hands don't recruit middle schoolers, and they certainly don't scream for mercy while dragging a level one Angel by the hair. He's a rogue element, but he's not the enemy."
Lu looked like he violently disagreed, but he finally, reluctantly, lowered his fist. The suffocating purple aura dissipated, and the giant took a step back, folding his massive arms across his chest. Jace let out a breath that sounded like a deflating tire.
Heather stepped closer, trying to get a look at my face behind my makeshift hand-shield. "You have impressive survival instincts, kid. And your Angel packs a serious punch for being unregistered. What's your name?"
My brain scrambled. I couldn't give her my real name. If the DHA had my name, they'd have my address, my search history, and probably my tragic C-average. I needed an alias. Something intimidating. Something that said 'leave me alone, I'm a lone wolf.'
"I am Pantheon," I declared, deepening my voice to what I hoped was a menacing baritone.
Heather stared at me. Her eye twitched. "Pantheon. Right. Well, 'Pantheon,' the DHA could use someone with your… unique evasion skills. We can offer training, protection, and a sanctioned platform for your Angel to Ascend. Join the DHA."
"Join the DHA? And deal with guys who try to execute me on a Tuesday afternoon?" I peeked through my fingers, pointing an accusatory finger at Lu. "Hard pass."
"It's not a request I make lightly. It's dangerous out here," she warned.
"So is standing next to him!" I shot back.
Before she could hit me with another recruitment pitch, I scrambled to my feet. Althea was finally at my side, her golden sword humming softly as she glared daggers at the giant who had just punted her into a pile of pallets.
"We are leaving. We've hit our XP quota for the day," I announced.
I grabbed Althea's sleeve, turned back to the highly decorated DHA Captain, stuck my tongue out, and blew a loud, wet raspberry.
Then, without waiting to see the look of absolute professional bewilderment on her face, I ignited my overpowered agility, dragged Althea by the arm, and sprinted out of the alleyway as fast as my magically enhanced legs could carry me.